Ouagadougou
by S.P.Q.T
Summary: During the Third Exam Preliminaries, Naruto is selected to fight the completely wrong kind of person for an up and coming action hero. Action, humour, romance abound, and the title's just random! NaruHina, 'cos it makes the world go round!


Yes, the title may be the coolest ever, but it's completely irrelevant and dumb. I'll change it when I think of something even cooler. And this fic starts during the Preliminaries in the Chuunin Exam at the point when Naruto would be fighting Kiba in the canon. Up 'til now, everything's exactly the same as the manga or anime, whichever you prefer, which could also be both or neither, or some point in between. Afterwards, though... heh heh ehe cough. But, yeah... anyway...

* * *

**Prologue the Only**

'_Hyuuga Hinata vs. Uzumaki Naruto' _the board read.

"Wha..?" Naruto hadn't been expecting to fight Hinata out of everyone still to go in the third exam preliminaries. Wasting no time, he scrunched up his face and yelled down at Hayate the Ever Off Colour. "Hey hey! Do I have to fight Hinata? How about that guy?" This was said while pointing at Gaara, who currently looked like he'd rather be stuck watching a very dreary 3 hour film than taking part in the exam.

Hayate the Incredibly Ill was not amused, however. "I assume you weren't listening _sniffle_ at the beginning of the matches. _Cough_. The pairs who fight are chosen randomly. You have no choice over whom you fight. _Cough._" Well-educated was Hayate – he liked to speak properly.

That meant nothing to Naruto, however. (Or to Hinata, who was looking like she'd been bleached, she was so white. Kurenai looked very worried about something.) He just continued to yell appropriately. "But I can't fight Hinata! I have to beat up someone incredibly strong, like that guy, or that guy!" Again he gesticulated at Gaara, still seemingly waiting for something to happen, and also at Neji, who just looked miffed. "When I beat someone like that, loads of great stuff'll happen and Iruka-sensei will be forced to buy me loads of ramen!"

While spasmodic grins passed over his face at the wonders of defeating 'strong guys,' Hayate the Increasingly Ailing appeared to be coughing to the SOS. "_Cough-cough-cough, cough cough cough, cough-cough-cough," _he said, almost conversationally. Everyone else in the room was also becoming increasingly annoyed/livid (delete as appropriate). That jounin sensei from the Sound, who happened to resemble a questionable singer from a time long-forgotten, was thankfully no longer around (a good thing too – the fellow looked a bit unstable). Oddly enough, the Hokage didn't seem to mind at all, but was rather watching both Naruto and Hinata intently, an almost evil smirk adorning his face.

Poor old under the weather Hayate just stood waiting. Neither contestant had moved. One was displaying the attributes of a buffoon; the other seemed to be having an out-of-body experience. He just waited and waited. The people around Naruto started punching him; those around Hinata started poking her. At his treatment, Naruto pulled a face once more, halting Hayate who had been coughing at increasing intervals. (By now the sound was more of a high-pitched hum than anything else.)

Naruto looked up at the board one last time before seeming to admit defeat, his shoulders slumping. "Fine, fine," he grumbled, "but in the next exam I'm gonna beat everyone else." As his head hung, almost everyone in the room who wasn't evil, etc., started cheering, and those who had got out little beach chairs put them away again. Amongst the noise, Naruto spoke again. "Ne, Hinata, let's do our best," he said, remembering her words before they began the first exam. Why it was her who said it then, and him now, he couldn't work out.

Amazingly, this seemed to knock Hinata out of her stupor. She turned to look at the object of her 'admiration' before giving a tiny nod and what she hoped was a smile. Kurenai also smiled, seeing that her student was finally moving down to the arena along with Naruto, while Kiba, still waiting for his fight, let out a breath that he'd been holding in as much to keep himself for yelling at Naruto as he was out of anxiety for Hinata. His mind subconsciously thanked them as he edged away from death and oxygen entered his system once more.

Unlike (practically) everyone else in the room, neither Naruto nor Hinata felt relieved. Both their minds were churning through more energy than a lot of people would use in an entire fight. (For Naruto, this was almost a first.)

Hinata's mind was repeating one phrase in particular far more than any other, and this was, predictably, 'Naruto-kun', preferably followed by a pause and mental finger tapping. _Naruto-kun…_ she thought, _I don't think I'll be able to fight you…I don't want to, and I'd probably lose anyway…_

Naruto's mind was not actually working all that dissimilarly. _Bleargh, I don't want to fight Hinata! She's never been mean to me, and I bet I'll beat her easily. _As they arrived at the centre of the arena, he looked at Hinata, who was herself intrigued by just how dilapidated the room really was. _And it wouldn't seem right to smash her up! She even wanted to cheat for me in the first exam! What am I meant to do? _He began sweating more and more as he thought at a frenetic pace, when his thoughts were interrupted by Hayate the Progressively Pained.

"_Cough._ The match shall start when I've finished my next cough. _Cough. _Please begin."

_Naruto-kun_, thought Hinata. _Naruto-kun…_

_Naruto-kun,_ thought Naruto. _Hmm. That sounds good._ Then he shook himself out of his reverie. _Uh, where did that come from? _He punched himself, inducing worried looks from the 'Naruto cheer leading team.'

"Is that a jutsu Hinata-san used?" asked Sakura.

"It must be a deep and powerful mystery of youthfulness!" declared Gai, his manly brows expressing much powerful emotion.

Kakashi simply sighed. "And I thought they hadn't even started fighting yet…" Gai was, as ever, impressed.

"Kakashi, my eternal rival of wondrous spring, your hip cynicism puts even my dazzling wit to shame!"

Back at the Fight Pad, Naruto pulled himself together. "Shall we… go, then?" He didn't really know how to handle this. Someone like Lee or Gaara would have been easy to fight (in his point of view), but Hinata seemed… undeserving. She had never, in all his memory, done or said anything mean to him. Even Sakura, his 'hot lady friend,' used violence as a medium with which to express her love for him. And would Hinata even be much of a challenge? Thankfully, his opponent solved the problem for him.

Hinata had been worrying over many things. Would their fight make him think badly of her? Would he acknowledge her, and possibly fall deeply in love with her? And then she realised that one or both of them would have to lose. If he did, he'd be crushed. If she lost, he might be disgusted with her… _No! _she thought with sudden passion as that idea passed through her mind. _Naruto-kun isn't mean like that! He inspires people and makes them feel stronger, not weaker. _She looked at Naruto who was looking a bit troubled himself. Even that made her feel more determined. _And we have the same nindo._

She heard Naruto's question, and, steeling herself, answered. "Hai," she said.

Naruto took a deep breath, and then used his favourite strategy – running directly at the enemy to punch their face in.

"What imagination!" said Kakashi happily, a smile gracing his hidden physiognomy.

"OOOOWAAAAH!" agreed Lee, his own pulled into a fearsome frown. (Being a truthful laddy, Lee didn't understand the concept of sarcasm.)

Just before the Noisy Idiot reached The One Who _Liked _Him, he noticed a swift change in her stance. _Please forgive me, Naruto-kun, _Hinata thought as her palm swung out towards the side of Naruto's body.

"Gyaah!" he yelled as he threw himself to the side, the oncoming hand just slipping past his arm. _Heh heh,_ he mentally laughed, before a sudden pain shot up his arm. "Yah! What was that!" He skidded to a halt and examined his arm, seeing no damage.

Up on the balcony, Sakura turned around. "Kakashi-sensei, what did she do?"

"Hmm," pondered the Carefree Coach. "Well, Hinata-san is a member of the Hyuuga clan, who use a special fighting style -"

"Kakashi, my rival of lore never-ending," interrupted Gai, "this is my area of expertise. Allow me to demonstrate my knowledge through the use of my fantastic youth powers, which dance and sing of many cool ideas and inspirations!" As he launched into a tirade of mainly useless 'Did you know?' facts on the Hyuuga, Neji, who was standing by himself a bit off to the side, snorted to himself.

_Heh, _he thought. _She isn't even using her Byakugan. Without that she'll do no damage at all. How pathetic…_ He snorted again, but then it became a small cough. _Hmm… I hope I haven't caught something…_ He glared at Hayate.

What he thought was true, though. Without the ability to visualise the chakra system, the most Hinata could really do was cause pain to Naruto, unless she happened to hit a tenketsu or other vital area by chance. She, however, was more worried about the yelp of pain she heard from him.

_Naruto-kun, I didn't hurt you, did I?_ Just as she was about to ask him if he was hurt, a yell came down from above.

"NARUTO!" screamed Sakura, now wised-up on the Jyuuken. "She attacks with chakra! It damages your body internally!"

"It does?" asked Naruto, his wisdom shining through. Taking a few seconds to absorb the two sentences, he grinned insanely at Hinata. "Cool! Ne, Hinata, you've got to do more!"

"If she wants to do it properly," came another voice, this time cold and evil, "she should try using her bloodline limit instead of just hoping for the best." Everyone's hair stood on end as they looked at the cruel and calculating Hyuuga Neji, that nasty beast. "Right now, she's just being weak."

"Neji-nii-san," mumbled the coherent Hinata.

Naruto stopped grinning and assumed his 'thoughtful' expression. "I don't like you," he said decidedly to Neji, before turning to Hinata again. "But Hinata, why aren't you trying your best?" He scratched his chin. "If you can do better, then do better!" At that he gave the Nice Guy Pose, minus the twinkling dents. Even that was enough to set Gai and Lee looking down upon him with tears streaming down their faces, their passionate eyebrows reflecting the beautiful harmony of the moment.

"But," mumbled Hinata, "I don't want to hurt Naruto-kun…"

"Don't worry about me," he scoffed. "If I do my best and you do your best, that's all that matters. And if we get hurt, that's just something that happens. I don't mind at all if you beat me up!"

"But -"

"It doesn't matter! You do everything you can to win, and I'll do everything I can, and at the end we'll have had a good time fighting each other!"

_Naruto-kun, you think it's good that we get to fight? _Hinata wondered. As she realised this, a small smile appeared on her face, and Naruto smirked. _If that's what Naruto-kun thinks is best…I won't let him down! _She set her eyes on her opponent and began forming the seals for the Byakugan. As the veins around her eyes bulged with the extra chakra being forced through them, a few spectators seemed impressed.

"Is that really Hinata?" asked Ino.

"No, it's someone else," yawned Shikamaru (at the same time he somehow sighed – it's a whole new way to be cool).

"Idiot," grumped Ino as she smashed him on the head.

"Why do you want to know?" asked Chomping Chouji from the depths of his bag of crisps.

"Because she looks _meeeeaaan_."

"Ah." Chouji thought on it.

Neji was thinking (again), and this time a frown was evident on his face. _Could it be? Hinata-sama… Are you planning to use _that _jutsu?_ As the midgety clan heir before him began to roar and turn green, he stumbled back in fear. Tripping and falling on his rump he quickly looked up to shield himself from the inevitable attack – but there was none. Looking back down, Hinata simply wasn't all that green. _What was I thinking?_ he thought angrily to himself as he dusted off his swanky new shorts. _There is no 'that jutsu'._

He glared at Hayate, unconscious on the ground and seemingly nearing death's door. _And now I'm hallucinating._ _I knew I wasn't well. Stupid guy just goes around infecting the exam participants… What a loser… _Deciding to ignore the person he now hated the most, he focussed again on Hinata, the other person he hated the most. (Neji had a long list in his head of the people he hated the most, each one ranked according to how much he hated them the most. But who is the shadowy No. 1 Most Hated? Only Neji knew…) _But there is something different. Hinata-sama looks more evil._

Finally the fight really started. Naruto charged again (_I'm surprised! _thought Kakashi in mock surprise) while Hinata remained in her stance. A few moments before entering her range of attack, Naruto threw himself to the side, his hands forming a certain seal (_I'm surprised!_) and causing two kage bunshin to burst into existence along with plumes of smoke. Each grabbed the original and threw him above Hinata in perfect line to bop her on the head, when a jab flew up from below and caught him on the right side of the chest.

Forgetting about attacking, Naruto tried to land as well as he could. He tried not to show it, but that single hit from Hinata's palm had really hurt. Crashing unceremoniously to the floor, he pulled himself up again, but not before a metallic taste entered his mouth. The genin up on the balcony were surprised to see a small trickle of blood dribble from his mouth.

"_Hinata_ did that with one hit?" Ino asked incredulously.

"Of course!" boomed the thunderously-voiced Gai from his own vantage point. "My youthful subordinates, you were obviously so enraptured earlier by the engaging fight below that you failed to absorb the striking gorgeousness of my wisdom! Allow to me reiterate once more so that you too may know the greatness of my insight!"

Hanging onto every word, Lee leapt into action. "Gai-sensei, teach us the truth of youth!"

"Lee, you are the only other who also fully appreciates the benefits of greens spandex! Stand with me, and advise our comrades also on the fighting style of the Hyuuga!"

The gruesome twosome hugged and cried and did all the rest of their weird stuff; thankfully Kakashi gave the explanation on the Byakugan in Gai's stead.

Down below, things were not going well for Naruto. He was consistently being hit 'lightly' by Hinata, each time feeling a small amount of blood welling up from inside him. He tried to get a hit in, but she was far too mobile, easily dodging. He hadn't been able to get a single hit in, while small areas of his body were beginning to feel strangely numb.

Pausing for a moment, he spoke up. "Hinata, you never told anyone you could do this cool stuff!"

Still in the Jyuuken stance, but feeling heat rising up her face Hinata replied. "I… never thought it would matter much…"

"Well it does!" He grinned madly for a bit, still blindly unaware of the growing blush opposite him, while his mind worked frenetically. _Kuso… I'm getting beat up good here. I didn't think she'd be able to do anything like this…_Abruptly, his mind halted as he realised something. _That's how everyone used to be with me…They didn't think that I would be able to do anything… and now I've done something exactly the same with someone else… _Naruto stared at his feet, feeling a little sick (thankfully not as much as Hayate).

Hinata, seeing the frown on his face, relaxed her stance a bit. "Are you alright, Naruto-kun?" she asked tentatively.

He looked up at her, and spoke seriously for a change, surprising many people. "Hinata… I'm sorry, but… I wasn't taking this seriously…"

"What do you mean, Naruto-kun?"

"I… wasn't expecting you to be as good as this…" He finally grinned again, albeit a bit sheepishly. "But now we'll both be trying our hardest, so this'll be a good fight!" Hinata nodded, tiny wee smile visible only if you were to use an electron microscope of the best manufacture – from Kabuto Korp.

So now the two combatants, for that I what they were, charged once more. Naruto continued with his 'garden shed' taijutsu, while Hinata, who had been trained much more in that area, agilely dodged his blustering blows while really retaliating with radical ricochets herself.

Up on the balcony, many folks were surprised at how well she was doing against Naruto. _Hmm, _considered Kiba. _If it's possible to make Hinata mad, I will not do so. _While he nodded his head appreciatively at his wisdom, Kurenai felt immensely proud of her student for trying so hard and doing so well. A tear formed in her eye and it rolled down her face, and she sniffed, for it was beautiful.

But none of that really mattered, because while Naruto was getting his brains pounded into mush, he just kept on coming. Every time, he ran at Hinata, fists swinging in mighty arcs of power, then he missed and went flying past her as another palm came flying out, forcing chakra through him again. However, the thought of fighting Sasuke in the Third Exam kept his body going.

Ever since the encounter with that Snake Loser in the Forest of Death, Naruto had been feeling a bit odd. His chakra was 'going all wrong,' too put it simply. Kage bunshin no jutsu was harder to produce, for one thing. But still, he couldn't lose just because some Sicko of the Woods did some sicko thing. So he kept on going, even though he was definitely the underdog, at least for the moment.

Hinata was hoping for several things as she proceeded to deal out the pain to Naruto. First was that Naruto wouldn't think of her as a little punk for doing so. Second was that he'd actually think it was mega cool and so rant on about it and then ask her to marry him… maybe. Third was that it would also make _her_ look like something more than just a weak kunoichi who got in the way. And finally she hoped that he wouldn't get hurt by her, such was the kindness of her heart.

After several minutes of fairly intense charging and missing, Hinata began to feel her chakra levels diminishing, and began to think about what she was going to do when she'd have to deactivate the Byakugan. Naruto however had been steadily coming up with a plan after seeing what the Jyuuken could do. Whatever people may have said, he did think occasionally, and the plans he came up with at these rare moments were often quite good.

He was trying out some fancy footwork at the moment, attempting to kick Hinata's legs out from beneath her, when he suddenly saw an unreadable look cross her face. The swollen vessels around her eyes shrank again. The Shortest Kunoichi had finally decided that her bloodline limit was not cost-effective enough with her remaining reserves, and so had deactivated it.

As she tested herself, she felt a bit worried. She hadn't had a large amount of chakra in the beginning, and the Byakugan required a lot of training in order for sustained use. However, she wasn't about to give up either. That was her nindo, if you'd believe it, and it was her hero's as well. So, she rushed at Naruto, crouched low and ready to pound him.

Seeing the palm approaching him, Naruto again tried to dodge, but it was apparent that even without the Byakugan Hinata was better at pure taijutsu. What he also noticed, though, was that the strike didn't hurt nearly as much as it had before. (He grit his teeth, though. It was still painful, just not _as _painful.) He ducked down himself, tried punching her in the stomach, and came up with his fist in contact with something.

Hinata's face blanched as she felt the air rushing from her, and when Naruto's hand left her stomach, she fell back, wheezing and trying to ignore the pain. Above, Kurenai started to frown.

While Hinata had been in the middle of her attack, her arm was outstretched to force chakra through Naruto's chest. However, that same arm, along with her slight advantage in height and massive jacket, had obstructed her view of his own arm which had been at his side. He had crouched lower, she believing it to be an attempt to dodge a further attack, and then he abruptly came flying up again. Without her Byakugan, the oncoming fist had appeared too late, and she could not jump out of range.

While Naruto didn't know this, he had (somehow) managed to work out that whatever her limit had been, it allowed her to target him precisely and spot any attacks. He was actually leaning more towards the idea that it was similar to the Sharingan in that she could discern small motions in his body and so predict attacks. That was of little importance, though, for Naruto was a ninja of action, not poems and philosophy and other stuff like that, so he was quick to press his newfound advantage.

The fight was now progressing more in Naruto's favour. Without the Byakugan, Hinata simply couldn't place her attacks well enough or see where she herself was being attacked from, and even though the Jyuuken was the superior taijutsu, she didn't have the stamina to keep up her offence and defence. For his part, Naruto was somehow trying to smash her around as gently as possible while still doing maximum damage. He was partially succeeding, and partially sort of failing, which isn't all that surprising when you think about it.

Team 8 was watching from above, somewhat feeling weak in their hearts. Kurenai, Kiba and Shino all cared about their shortest team-mate, but to watch her fighting as hard as she had done and taking a beating like she was then posed a severe health hazard. Kiba wouldn't even admit it to himself, but in the back of his mind Hinata had always been a bit of a liability; he was now wondering how well he'd have done if he's been the one to fight her combined Jyuuken and Byakugan properly.

But now the combating couple were facing each other. Looking at her, Naruto realised a bit remorsefully for the first time that he hadn't actually been that gentle with his Hinata-pounding at all. She was bruised with cuts all over her skin, her hair less resembled a duck than a nest, and she generally looked a mess. One eyelid was swollen almost shut, and a small trickle of blood had dried where it had leaked from her mouth, much in the same way Naruto had been injured earlier on by her first serious attack. While Naruto looked better off, in truth he felt just as bad thanks to the internal damage he had been dealt. His own jolly hairdo now held a slight resemblance to an afro (he suspected that this was an unpleasant side-effect of the Jyuuken), he felt as though he had kunai lodged everywhere he'd been hit and he felt distinctive bowel movements, usually heralding a welcomed trip to the nearest toiletry facility.

Deciding that the fight was nearing its end, Naruto summoned up a smile once more and spoke to his opponent. "Hinata, you're really good! Why did nobody ever tell me? Maybe we could have trained together!"

_We could have… trained together? _Even in her modestly dishevelled state, Hinata went slightly pink. "Well, it's just that… I'm not really that strong… I just…" She trailed off uncertainly, but the ever-blustering Naruto was unfazed.

"Yes you are! We've been doing really well!" Suddenly an important fact occurred to him. "Of course, from my near Kage-level point of view this whole thing was nice and easy!" Next a plan occurred as well. "Ne, Hinata. How about we try to end this now, and whoever wins treats the other person to ramen to say well-done?" _Naruto, you devilish thing,_ he chuckled to himself in his head. _Whatever happens, I get free ramen!_ Then: _Wait a second! I got it wrong! When I win, I'll have to pay for two people! _

From the silence he suddenly screamed "NOOOOOOOOOOOO…" in a horrible voice before looking dejectedly at the ground. _Oh well… I suppose Hinata deserves it for keeping going against my incredible power for so long…_ He looked up again on hearing a tentative voice.

"Is something wrong, Naruto-kun?" asked the shy kunoichi from That Other Place Opposite Him On The Arena.

"It's okay." Naruto started grinning again, doubling the pain that Hayate felt in his head even from his unconscious and prostrate position at the side of the arena. "So, let's finish this fight with some mega-amazing cool stuff, and then do that ramen thing, ne?"

_It wouldn't be anything important, _Hinata debated with herself. _Yes, it would… Fufufufu,_ laughed the evil voice in her head. Then she saw Naruto looking at her as if waiting for confirmation and felt blood rising once more in embarrassment. "Oh, um, yes. Let's do our best." Knowing now that it was all almost over, she began searching inside of her for the last remnants of chakra to use. And when it was finished, Naruto would kneel, a dazzling smile blinding her, and a box would be produced from behind his ear. Opening it, she'd find a ring, and then he'd ask her…

As he watched Hinata readying herself, Naruto almost frowned to himself, hearing her 'encouragement' again. It made him believe in his nindo more; why he didn't know. He also didn't know that his opponent had taken that same idea after him, but he saw he she had kept on even though she was on the verge of suffering from chakra exhaustion, and he wondered at that too, remembering how Sasuke and he had kept on at the tree-walking exercise until they managed to do it.

But now was not the time for reminiscing about his rival for Sakura's love, so he set himself and looked at Hinata, his plan set to go into action.

"Ready, then?" he asked. She nodded slightly.

Naruto gulped, knowing that this was the last thing he had to do to get into the Third Exam. He put his hands together, formed that same seal again (_I'm surprised!_) and several Kage Bunshin burst into existence. They all charged at Hinata, who quickly poofed them away again. She hadn't used her Byakugan, deciding rather to use as much chakra as she had left to power her Jyuuken.

The smoke drifted apart, and the real Naruto came running out, a shuriken in each hand. He smiled triumphantly and threw them. Hinata quickly darted forwards, too quickly for Naruto, who looked surprised at her sudden speed and easily dodging the shuriken. Her palm came flying hard into his chest and a large amount of chakra entered him. Stumbling he coughed and looked shocked. Hinata stepped forwards a bit concerned.

"Naruto-kun, are you -"

Naruto blew up in more smoke. The last thing Hinata saw was his face twisting into that grin which she alone found endearing. Spinning around she saw smoke drifting away from another two kage bunshin who were preparing to throw more shuriken at her. She mentally cursed (using nice words, mind you) her decision to not use the Byakugan, and dashed at them, hitting them rapidly before turning around to face Naruto who she knew was hurtling at her from the smoke that had kept him hidden.

Twisting around again she was alarmed at how close he was. Grabbing his arm, she knocked him away; however, he was still smiling. Hinata wondered why, then she realised: the shuriken that he last two kage bunshin had been holding hadn't disappeared along with their owners. She tried to move to defend herself, but she couldn't. Naruto was now firmly holding the same arm that had been holding him. She wouldn't have minded that, except that two fists hit her hard in the back at that moment. Stumbling back, she felt Naruto's hold on her arm be replaced by his leg catching her in the stomach.

Naruto decided to ask her if she wanted to give up. He had a feeling that she'd say no, but he thought he would anyway. Hinata saw him opening his mouth, and shook her head slightly, her nindo still in effect. He saw it, and understood immediately, saying nothing more and preparing to end it once and for all.

Kiba, however, had seen this and knew what it meant. "Hinata! What are you doing!" he yelled down, anxiously hopping from side to side in such a manner that even Akamaru looked up from where he was using Dynamic Marking on a red-haired and silent Sand nin who just stood there, taking it. Kiba continued. "He's got you beat! Just give up and you won't get hurt anymore!"

"Hey hey!" bellowed an equally irate Naruto. "If Hinata doesn't want to give up, she doesn't have to!"

"Why don't YOU shut -"

"Kiba-kun," came a quiet voice "I'm sorry, but… Naruto-kun is right. I don't want to give up."

"But Hinata -" Kiba was suddenly interrupted when Kurenai put her hand on his shoulder, telling him to stop.

"Kiba," she said sternly, "it is Hinata's choice. Let her do what she wishes." Out of all the people there, Kurenai was probably the only one who understood what this fight meant in its entirety. Sarutobi probably knew a bit that thanks to that funky crystal ball of his, but he didn't have enough time to spend it all spying on a few select people. So, Kurenai did what she thought was best, and knocked out Kiba as he opened his mouth again. "Hinata," she called down, and her student looked up at her. A moment passed, unspoken words flying between the two as well as unspoken words do, and Hinata knew that her sensei was encouraging her to do what she wanted and continue fighting.

So as Naruto came running at her, she gathered the last bit of usable chakra and destroyed one of the several kage bunshin that now surrounded her. She felt herself go limp, unable to use any more, as Naruto used the knowledge he gleaned from watching Lee and Sasuke fight to use the Uzumaki Naruto Rendan at the same time as he invented it. As he performed it though, he realised that it was maybe it bit much to end a fight like this. Yet Hinata hadn't seemed like she wanted him to make any allowances for her… maybe stopping it to use another technique instead wouldn't be such a good idea.

She landed brokenly on the ground, feeling very tired. At least it didn't hurt. She moved her arms, trying to push herself up again. From where he landed, Naruto watched in amazement as even now she refused to just give in. He had to admit that as it was, he was being impressed quite a lot.

Hinata braced her arms and tried to push herself up. A small smile formed as she began to move, but then it faltered as she started to shake. Falling back down again, she thought about just going to sleep, but then realised what that would mean, and tried again.

The wan Hayate, who had decided to return to consciousness, detachedly watched as Hinata struggled to pick herself up. She tried and failed several more times, before he sighed dejectedly.

"Due to Hyuuga Hinata being unable to continue the match, it is ruled that the winner is Uzumaki Naruto."

There was about a second's silence until…

"GO NARUTO!" bellowed Sakura before she began slapping herself for letting Inner Sakura out. "I mean, GO NARUTO!" She slapped herself again.

Naruto wasn't listening, which was odd considering this was from his 'hot lady friend'. He had rushed straight over to Hinata's side and started babbling about the fight. "Hinata, you were so cool! When you used your blood limit, it was like boom, and you were beating me up bad, and then I thought, hmm, a worthy opponent indeed, and so everything got really super -" Hinata had had a small smile on her face while she listened to him drabbling on – most importantly because he had acknowledged her – but her happiness was dimmed by feeling that horrible tiredness now accompanied by a throbbing ache throughout her body.

Hayate had been watching her and decided that medic-nins would be needed. "It seems that your friend… _cough cough cough_… is suffering from mild chakra exhaustion.

Naruto didn't get it. "Huh?" he asked with insight. The realisation hit him. "Ah! Hinata-chan!" His attention was quickly shifted to the heavy-eyed girl beside him. "What's wrong! Does it hurt!" he asked with growing panic. He was getting an odd feeling in stomach, and he suddenly realised that he didn't actually like hurting people all that much. "She isn't going to die, is she!" he demanded of the inquiringly inquisitive Hayate.

The older ninja looked at him, his expression somewhat unreadable. "No."

"Ah, great! But still -"

"Naruto-kun…" Naruto stopped straight away, surprised. He couldn't actually remember Hinata interrupting anyone. That alone shut him up while Hinata went on, even more quietly than usual. "Thank you for… taking me seriously…" She smiled again.

"That doesn't matter, Hinata! We said we'd do our best, so we did!"

At that the smile went from being barely noticeable to a real, full one. It made Naruto smile too, thankful that she didn't hate him for beating her or anything like that.

Medic-nins appeared on cue to take her to the hospital, but as she was lifted onto a stretcher she held out a small box for Naruto. "This might help you, Naruto-kun…" He just nodded dumbly as he took it, wondering why she was just being so nice him while he watched her being carried out of the arena.

And then she was gone, and he had passed the Second Exam.

* * *

Wow, I'm actually getting author's notes... Hmm, well, I didn't like this much, but I like the idea behind it which came while I walking my dog and discussing with him 'Why the World Needs More NaruHina,' and then I wondered what would happen if they'd had to fight in the Prelims. It could have happened after all. So I'm gonna keep on even if it really stinks. And of course it's NaruHina, which just makes my day. So... yeah, it's NaruHina. And I'm gonna keep it as funny as possible without destroying the storyline, since serious stuff makes me feel grouchy. And it's gotta be quirky. And I also thought 'Everybody Needs A Little Lovin,' so I hereby make it a policy to get **every single recurring character in all of Naruto paired up. **That means it will include people like Kotetsu and all those minor characters, but not like Tazuna. I probably could explain this better, but I'd probably just make it worse. And also, no yaoi. There's enough of that already for people who want to read it, so this is going to be a big het fest. And no lemons either. Not my style. Ha ha ha. Or something.

Anyway, just remember: Long Live NaruHina! Blah blah blah. Hopefully I'll write the next chapter more quickly than I did this one... grrr...


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